Call to Adventure

Evie’s eyes dilated as her gaze moved over the stone fragment and she shook her head to regain her focus. She picked up the stone and examined it closely. It was a triangular corner piece. She held it close to her eyes, feeling the smooth face and inexplicably wishing she could touch it without her gloves on.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Evie perceived a watery shimmer like heat off of pavement. She watched in shocked disbelief as a man in a long wool coat and bowler hat materialized amid the waves. His face was deeply lined with age; gray hair peaked out under the brim of his hat. He leaned with one hand on a cane. The other hand touched the brim of his hat in an old-fashioned salutation. He seemed perplexed but he looked at Evie and smiled.

Her mind reeled to explain his sudden appearance. She was frozen in place, shocked but not afraid. He didn’t seem dangerous, just simply and inexplicably there. He looked like a turn-of-the-century gentleman whose harebrained time travel machine had just unexpectedly worked.

“Who are you?” seemed the most pertinent question.

“I am Dr. Alistair Burroughs and you are?” His voice came in a deep, soft and confident British accent. If he had not just appeared out of nothing in her presence, she would have thought he was in costume to carol on the Mall. Either that or the museum was about to be robbed a la Ocean’s Eleven.

“Evie Wells.”

“Pleasure” Alistair said as he took off his hat.

Evie had to ask, “How did you do that?”

“All will be explained. I see that you have found the tablet fragment.” He glanced at the stone still suspended in her hand. “You must be the one.”

She looked down at the stone. The crease between her eyes was deeply etched by disbelief and confusion.

He was unperturbed. “I guess I was expecting someone a little older and a little more, well, male…isn’t that silly of me. What time is it, then?”

Evie automatically looked up at the clock. “7:26”

“In the morning?”

“Yes.”

“Sunrise must have been at 7:25, so I have about 9 hours. That should be plenty.”

“Look, my boss will be here any moment. Though I have to admit I’m dying to know how you got here, I will be in a lot of trouble if he finds you.”

“I see, well then, bring the fragment and let’s find another place to talk.”

“What?” She shook the stone slightly, “If I took this artifact out of this room, I would be fired and very likely sent to jail for stealing from the Smithsonian Institution.”

“Oh…naturally. Smithsonian you say? Nevermind, we’ll just get as far as we can before this “boss” of yours arrives and then I’ll hide in that closet.”

Evie opened her mouth to speak, but Dr. Burroughs pressed on.

“Now listen very carefully, this stone is not what it appears to be. It has been in my possession for 61 years and now it is time for me to pass it on to you.”

Evie held up her free hand to stop him. “Sir, this stone has been in the Freer Gallery of Art archive for almost 100 years. It was one of the original pieces in Freer’s bequest. You can not have owned it.”

“Thank you my dear. That is excellent information, I must be sure to get the stone into Mr. Freer’s collection. Now, look down at the stone.”

Evie kept her disbelieving gaze on his face.

“Look at it.” He commanded kindly.

Her eyes moved to the stone. Her head turned to follow her gaze when she glimpsed that the stone had begun to emit a faint red light. She set it down swiftly as if it may burn her and looked up at the Dr. Burroughs in amazement. He smiled broadly. She looked down again and her eyes reflected the light as it grew to engulf the stone in a shimmer of red and gold.

“What’s happening?!”

“I warn you, what I am about to tell you will sound quite impossible, but I am a man of my word. This stone was passed down to me by my predecessor and to him by his predecessor and so on through the ages to the beginning. It is a fragment of the original Ten Commandment tablets that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai.”

Evie’s looked up at him in surprise.

Dr. Burroughs pressed on. “We are Intercessors. There is only one Intercessor at a time. My time is ending and yours is beginning. My job now is to prepare you for the role you must play as a divine agent and protector of good.”

Evie took a step back and crossed her arms, smiling bemusedly like someone who’s just realized they are on candid camera.

Dr. Burroughs held up his hands. “It is all true. Just listen to what I have come to say.” His eyes were pleading. “May I sit?”

Evie nodded toward a chair.

Dr. Burroughs placed his cane on the table and laid his hat on the cane. Sitting swiftly, his eyes grew wide in momentary shock as his weight shifted the chair on its wheels. He put his feet down heavily to catch himself, leant over to look between his legs at the underside of the chair and then laughed out loud. He looked up at Evie and motioned for her to be seated.

“Be careful,” he chuckled, “they roll.”

Successive beeps alerted Evie that Dr. Asterley was about to enter the room. In a flash Dr. Burroughs, his cane and hat in hand, flew to the closet and shut the door just as Dr. Asterley entered.